I met the people who study the Thargoids in Elite: Dangerous

Post navigation

A Thargoid ‘flower ship’ interacts with a ‘Barnacle’. There’s all sorts of weird stuff happening in Elite these days. Pic courtesy of Gavin Baranowski.

I wrote about The Fuel Rats in Elite: Dangerous a while ago, and it was fascinating to discover how deep the game goes – and how people are playing it in very different ways. The Fuel Rats were formed spontaneously when Frontier introduced a refuelling mechanic into the game, and a group of players thought it would be fun to create a sort of space vehicle recovery service. People loved the idea, and it evolved to the point where there’s a proper hierarchy and all sorts of procedures for dispatching rescuers into the far reaches of the galaxy.

Julian at PCGamesN remembered the article, and he approached me recently about doing a sort of follow-up, where I sought out the people who are studying the Thargoids, Elite‘s newly emergent alien race. I spoke to The Fuel Rats, and they put me onto The Canonn, a 3,000-strong community of players who are dedicated to exploring the history and science of the Elite universe.

A mysterious Thargoid device, one of hundreds that The Canonn have found. Pic courtesy of Gavin Baranowski.

I was astounded by the complexity behind the recent emergence of the Thargoids. They’re not simply space invaders that Frontier have dumped into the game overnight – there’s a huge amount of back story there, and the galaxy is littered with Thargoid ruins that contain odd devices or mysterious purpose. What’s more, the Thargoids themselves have motivations.

Frontier have clearly put a huge amount of thought into how they want to introduce the Thargoids, and they’ve left a tantalising amount of loose threads that groups like The Canonn have seized on and are excitingly following. It’s mind-boggling, really – there really is a whole virtual galaxy out there, packed with all sorts of weird stuff. Take a look at the PCGamesN article to see what I’m on about:

i 2nd this. I have Elite Dangerous but it’s a huge time investment and for me to truly appreciate it and experiences like this, it’d have to be the only game I ever play for the rest of my life. The sense of discovery players are having right now must be incredible though. I remember seeing the first reveal video of the Thargoids and could only imagine how the player must’ve been flipping out at seeing it for the first time unexpectedly. I love how they tease and trickle the Thargoids out slowly into their galaxy.

Damn it guy! 1st the Fuel Rats & now the Thargoid studying Canonn….. I really wish I was wealthy & also had the time to datamine Elite as I’m always like meh… But then you (or others!) point out ‘oh hey! We’ve actually got the kind of deep stories & hidden mysteries that you love by the way!!!’ I… Just…. Don’t…..Have…. Time!!!!!!! Shakes Fist at Sky Gaming!!!!!!!! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!?????!!!!!!!??? Sighs so deeply, Whales Sing in Empathy